SpeakerLeaderInventorEntrepreneurStoryteller

Scott inspires his audiences with life-changing lessons learned from the belly of the entrepreneurial beast: recognizing the intuitive nudges that inspire us to great things, the power of Fun and how to create a legendary company culture, and how to blow up the barriers we all create that prevent us from realizing our dreams.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Testimonials

"Scott has the rare ability to be an extremely captivating story teller. I don't know too many people who could captivate an audience quite like he can. I asked Scott to speak to my leadership program and he had the entire group hanging on every word. This is especially challenging to do when you're the last speaker of the day, but Scott had no problems. I would encourage everyone to hear what Scott has to say. His is a story of struggle, triumph, courage and life lessons. Thank you, Scott, for sharing your story with us!"

- Frances Mahoney | Executive, University of Colorado Leeds School of Business

"Scott Tibbitts had the difficult task of being the last speaker of the day during our Entrepreneurship session and following 5 other outstanding speakers. Not only did he rise to the occasion, he was the top-ranked speaker reflected in the participants' evaluations! Scott's passion, knowledge, story-telling ability and humor combined to create an amazing hour. We were all completely engaged and inspired!"

- Robin Miglarese | Associate Director, University of Colorado Leeds School of Business

"Scott Tibbitts is an intrepid and successful entrepreneur who shares his life experience of achieving business success in the face of seemingly inordinate odds. Audiences will be inspired by this very real American Entrepreneurial Success Story."

- Ed Doody | EVP, National Research Center for College and University Admissions

"I am writing to express my appreciation for the talk you gave Thursday night. I found your story both, inspiring and touching. As a matter of fact, by the end of your talk, I was in tears, went up to my room and hugged my 13 year old son... thank you once again, as you helped me to regain a sense of perspective regarding what is truly most important, a message which also hit home with my son."

- Elise M.

"Scott is a powerful and entertaining speaker, relating to his specific audience while drawing on his experience and success. As keynote speaker for an event we held recently, he introduced and set-the-stage for a complex topic beautifully."

"There is nothing quite like hearing it from those that have experienced it and lived to talk about it. Scott's story is extraordinary, but more importantly, he has been able to distill his experience into a handful of powerful 'this-is-what-I-wish-I-had-known-earlier' lessons that can truly change emerging businesses."

- Dr. Robert McGowan | Professor of Management, University of Denver

"Scott is a captivating and inspirational speaker whose life lessons touch the entrepreneur in us all, whether we are creating a business or crafting our lives. His unique ability to make a personal connection with his audience no matter what size, allows us all to share in the adventure, apply the lessons learned to their lives, and leave smiling and energized to take our own next steps."

- Sharon King | Director, Boulder Small Business Development Center

"Scott Tibbitts is the rare speaker with whom an audience truly connects - where the speaker's energy, enthusiasm and knowledge is conveyed in such a way that those present readily relate, no matter the perspective from which they come. Through the story he tells, Scott is able to convey life-changing lessons in a way that they are not only heard, but also felt."

- Kim Burquest | CEO, Adams Coporation

Keynote Speaking

Scott brings his audience along for exhilarating highs and soul-searching lows of a space entrepreneur's journey.

Birthed from an invention made from hardware store parts and a question to NASA; "Think you could use these in space?" the result became Starsys Research, a company of 150 wanna-be rocket scientists that became legendary for its company culture and an unprecedented track record of 3,500 devices in space with zero failures.

Leading at the edge

Adventures in Space Entrepreneurship

Scott takes us on the adventure of a lifetime: creating a space company from scratch. He shares how to recognize and leverage the intuitive nudges that, when pursued with tenacity, can blossom into life-changing opportunity.

Jailbreak!

Escaping the Entrepreneurs Prison

Many strive for it but few succeed: Creating a cultural DNA that attracts world-class talent and business. Scott shares the counter-intuitive principles that create a company that has people "pounding on the doors" to work for, and to work with

Infusion!

Create Your Legendary Organization

As entrepreneurs create something of great value from nothing but vision and grit, they inevitably build a prison that inhibits success. Scott shares the four barriers entrepreneurs unknowingly create, and how they can be overcome.

Scott's Current Adventure: Katasi

Saving lives by preventing distracted driving.

While 98% of drivers surveyed believe that texting while driving is dangerous, 66% admit to doing it. Groove technology helps drivers change their habits by blocking distractions before they every reach the phone.

Watch Scott's Interview on Katie Couric

SCOTT'S STORY

Scott Tibbitts is the founder of Starsys Research, eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship, and Katasi Distracted Driving Solutions.

After graduating in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, he moved to Boulder, Colorado.

In 1987 he founded Starsys Research Corporation to bring a promising thermal actuator technology to the spacecraft industry. Starsys became the world's leading provider of mechanisms for spacecraft, and in 2009, the company was acquired by Sierra Nevada Corporation. In March of 2016, the company Scott helped create was awarded a $1B+ contract by NASA to build Dreamchaser, a replacement to the space shuttle.

Scott was the recipient of the "Esprit Entrepreneur of Distinction" award in 1998, and is the holder of ten patents in technologies as diverse as medical devices, spacecraft products and telecom.

He is active in the Colorado science and education community and can be found at Colorado Universities and K-12 schools giving talks on entrepreneurship and technology, as well as his favorite topic "Fun with Liquid Nitrogen".

He is the official storyteller at Niwot Elementary School, and the keyboard player in the garage band "Too Much Fun", renowned for playing the same 40 classic rock songs in the same order for more than 25 years.

Scott lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife Jackie, son Ryan and daughter Alyssa.

TIDBITS

In a prior life, he was a ski bum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

He aspires to perform stand-up comedy.

His children's names have flown on spacecraft to four planets.

He has flown on NASA's Vomit Comet zero gravity plane three times.

His father, Ted Tibbitts, was the first scientist to grow potatoes in space.

He has a killer recipe for liquid nitrogen ice cream.

IN THE PRESS

ABOUT SCOTT

Trying to Hit the Brake on Texting While Driving

The Story of Katasi

CNN COVERS espace Launch

CNN covers the opening of eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship

interview on npr

Scott describes the creation of eSpace, a space company incubator

BY SCOTT

"Where are you traveling? What do you do?"

A Message from Scott Tibbitts

The mOrning meeting

Scotts talks about the power of an all-hands meeting when done "just right"

Fly away

Scott talks about what happens when a key employee goes missing

Tell me about your lemonade stand

Scott talks about the process of hiring a candidate prewired to thirve in a critical role

CONTACT

To book a speaking engagement, ask a question, or just say hi, please get in touch!